Transcript of "The Spirit Of Leadership"

2.
“Times of growth are beset with Is Real Change Possible?difficulties. But these difficulties Increasingly, the issues that affect business are global in scope. Organizations are nestedarise from the profusion of all that is in a storm-tossed sea of global change where everything affects everything else. Issuesstruggling to attain form. Everything of globalization, cross-cultural commerce, global economic perturbation, resourceis in motion: Therefore, if one constraint, ecological shifts, geo-political instability, and regional conflict are redefiningperseveres, there is a prospect ofgreat success.” the context of leadership.I Ching Our old ways of thinking and leading are not capable of encompassing the level of interdependence and complexity we face. They simply are not up to the challenges of global change. In fact, they are barely up to the challenges of organizational change. A recent study of more than 100 companies engaged in major change efforts demonstrated that 85% don’t yield tangible much less durable results. Why? Meg Wheatley, renowned author of Leadership and the New Science, suggests that: “Most of the ways we were taught to think, to reason, to understand simply don’t give us the means to make wise decisions anymore. We don’t know how to be wise stewards of the dilemmas and challenges that confront us daily. We were not taught how to make sense of a chaotic world, or a world-wide interconnected web of activity and relationships.” CAN WE DO BETTER THAN A 15% SUCCESS RATE? Our answer is yes, but only if we manage change in an integral way addressing all inner and outer demands. Success is possible, only if we are willing to: o through the same metanoia (fundamental shift of mind and heart) that we want for G the organization. ngage in the difficult ongoing dialogue that brings to the surface that which is E hidden in our culture and allows personal transformation to translate into cultural and systemic change. We live in a time of great opportunity and great peril. The next fifty years are going to be interesting. We could well bring into being a global order going beyond nationalism to serve planetary welfare. We could destroy ourselves. Certainly business, with its growing global reach, plays a major role in the world’s future and has a huge stake in the outcome. The challenge for leadership in the this millennium is huge. Einstein makes the challenge clear: “The significant problems we face cannot be solved from the same level of consciousness that created them.” Something in our consciousness must shift in order for us to be able to see how to act in a way that can address the challenge of the times. What The Leadership Circle is all About“Thought and analysis are powerless The Leadership Circle is dedicated to preparing leaders for the demands of this century,to pierce the great mystery that leaders capable of navigating the delicate balance between short-term profitabilityhovers over the world and over ourexistence, but knowledge of the great and long-term common good. The Leadership Circle is dedicated to serving leaderstruths only appears in action and concerned with creating a sustainable thriving future for the planet and, thus, for globallabor.” business.Albert Schweitzer We believe that corporate leadership is in the driver’s seat. While global change ultimately requires political power and will, the power behind the political agenda today is corporate. Corporate leadership will set the agenda for the planet’s future. The Spirit of Leadership 1 www.theleadershipcircle.com

3.
It is time for us to expand our notions of legacy, beyond the creation of a great company, to include a legacy of global welfare. The organizations we lead must become great organizations for sure. But, we are ready for — we need — an expanded definition of greatness. This definition includes sustainable returns of money and meaning. It is greatness that benefits shareholders and the environment, that achieves breakthroughs in service, technology, and in the lives of those who are associated with the enterprise. The Leadership Circle is dedicated to expanding our measurement of greatness. It is the vision of The Leadership Circle that, by orchestrating profound learning experiences and great conversations with senior level leaders we can become leaders capable of the organizational global challenges we face. WHY CHANGE EFFORTS FAIL Why do so few change efforts fall short? The truth is, systemic change is exceedingly complex, and there is no one cause, nor a single antidote, to these dismaying results. However, most of the unsuccessful change efforts that we have studied close-up reveal a common pattern: crucial variables are ignored. Usually the more obvious and easy to address aspects of the change are tackled. The more invisible, insidious, emotionally wrenching quadrants of personal and cultural change are often left out of the equation. For any change effort to be successful, it must address each of four quadrants of change outlined (left). THE FOUR QUADRANTS OF CHANGE Quadrant 1 is the individual/internal aspect of change. This is the interior reality of QU people. It is the area of cognitive, psychological, and spiritual development. In this T1 AD RAN R quadrant leaders attend to the inner development of people, recognizing that no AD AN Individual/ Individual/ substantive change is possible without a prior change in consciousness.QU T2 Internal External - Pyschological - Skills Quadrant 2 has to do with the individual/external aspects of change. This is the domain - Spiritual - Behaviour - Cognitive - Peak Performance of technical and interpersonal skills as well as the science (physiology/neurology/ psychology) of peak performance. This quadrant gets a great deal of attention from Collective/ Collective/ Internal External coaches and world-class athletes. It is where leaders pay attention to developing peoples’ - Culture - Organizational D esign skills and supporting the physical and psychological ingredients that spark motivation - Shared Symbols - Stories - Workflow and peak performance.QU 4 - Policies/ NT Procedures AD R Quadrant 3 deals with the collective/ internal aspects of change. This is the domain of A A R NT AD 3 QU culture. It is the interior, often hidden, territory of our shared assumptions and images that direct what happens when we come together. This is the domain of myth, story, Adapted from the work of Ken Wilber unwritten rules, and beliefs. It reminds leaders to pay attention to the deeper meanings of symbols, purpose, vision and values-not so much as written, framed, statements, but, as the subtle messages encoded in our day-to-day interactions. Quadrant 4 has to do with the collective/external aspects of change, the social/ technical/ organization system. It is the quadrant of organizational design, technology workflow, policies, and procedures. This quadrant reminds leaders that system design determines performance and that if we want to get the system to perform at a substantively higher level, we must design for it. The Spirit of Leadership 2 www.theleadershipcircle.com

4.
Each of these quadrants is related to all the others. Development of one quadrant is inextricably bound up with all the others. Just a few examples: Individual consciousness affects physiology and vice versa. Culture stimulates or retards individual development and vice versa. Organizational structure shapes culture (and vice versa), which defines the opportunities people have/take for self-expression and growth. Consciousness shapes and guides the design of the system and vice versa. Each quadrant affects all the others. Each is powerful. Ignoring any one of them can lead to haphazard results from our attempts at change. When attempting to change a complex organizational system, an all-quadrants approach to change is needed. At The Leadership Circle, we call this taking an integral, whole system approach. It is possible to vastly improve on the prevailing 15% success rate in organizational change, but only if leaders are willing to move into the areas of change that are typically avoided.“Spiritual warriors are courageousenough to taste suffering and What Is Overlooked?relate to their fear… suffering is not The goal of most change efforts is a new system capable of increased internal efficiency,seen as a failure or a punishment. It’s expanded agility and capability in the marketplace, with new levels of energy, creativity,a purification.” ownership, and productivity. There are two primary ways change efforts are set up to fallSogyal Rinpoche short. First, they lack a whole system approach. Most efforts at organizational change are lower right (external-collective). Change efforts fail when deep system design issues are mistaken as isolated problems to be solved. Change is programmatic and piecemeal. This is analogous to treating the symptoms of a disease and not the disease. Short-term improvement is often followed by worsening conditions long-term. Second, and by far the most common way change efforts are not set up for success, is that the two internal quadrants are largely ignored. These change efforts focus only on the external side of change. New technology is introduced, the organization is restructured, teams are introduced, policies and reward systems are changed, workflows are reorganized, cross-training and cross-functional interfaces are put in place, etc. Individuals and teams receive training in the skills required to function in the new system. All very comprehensive, right? Seems like all the bases are covered and it should work. It seldom does, because the system cannot organize, in a sustainable way, beyond the level of consciousness in the left (internal) quadrants. Most change efforts suffer from both oversights mentioned above: focusing on problems not systems and ignoring the need for inner shifts in consciousness and culture. But, when we study change efforts through the lens of the whole system model, by far and away the most common quadrant ignored is the individual/internal followed closely by the collective/ internal. In other words, all the internal, deeper, psychological and spiritual aspects of individual and culture change are given short shrift. This oversight is particularly critical because in a changing organization system and structure, managers and employees alike are implicitly being asked to evolve a new orientation towards themselves and their world. Organizational change is not a question of skills and structure alone, but of identity and world-view. The Spirit of Leadership 3 www.theleadershipcircle.com

5.
PRESSURE FOR PERSONAL TRANSFORMATION Let’s consider an example of how one type of organizational change effort, the establishment of high performance teamwork, requires a transformation of the internal personal identity system (1st quadrant) of every individual in the organization. (Identity is the inner system that makes up one’s self concept. It is the system through which one relates to the surrounding world.) For this example, let’s also assume that the change effort has been well-crafted vis-à-vis the two external quadrants. Change efforts of this type require leaders to use power differently, to use their power to develop the power and expertise of others. This expectation becomes problematic for leaders who derive a sense of personal worth from being powerful, important, expert, decisive, heroic, and/or in charge. In the new organization they are no longer “the one”, but one among many. For those who have spent a lifetime defining their worth in terms of their strength of command, technical expertise, and decision-making ability, this shift constitutes nothing less than a crisis of identity. They must ask, “Who am I if I am not my ability to take command and be the one who makes the right decision?” Likewise, those leaders and employees who have shunned power and played the safe, loyal, hardworking follower as a way of being protected and valued by those in power, are now being asked to let go of this strategy. They are now asked to take on risk, step into conflict, make tough decisions, and generally take on more responsibility and visibility than they are used to carrying. For these individuals, this too is a crisis of identity. They ask, “How do I remain worthy and stay safe if I risk both failure and the displeasure of those above me?” This example demonstrates how an organizational change places implicit demands for deep internal change upon every person in the organization. The organizational emphasis on high performance teamwork is making an invisible demand that each person fundamentally changes their system of identity, not merely make a few skill adjustments. They are being asked to phase-shift into a radically new way of understanding and expressing themselves and their world. INNER DYNAMICS OF IDENTITY The inner dynamics of personal identity are powerful, complex, and immune to change (See Kegan, Immunity to Change). They operate at both the individual level (who I am) and at the collective/cultural level (who we are). For most of us, these powerful forces were organized years ago. They have decades of experience and momentum behind them. These internal dynamics, if ignored, can easily scuttle the most well intentioned change process (we think this accounts for much of the 85% short-fall). For organizational change to be real, we need to personally transform ourselves. This is tough stuff. Much of what is termed resistance to change is the struggle people, individually and collectively, have with reorganizing their system of identity. People need help and support to make this inner journey. They seldom get it in the way most change efforts are constructed. In short, deep systemic change occurs only if we can be the change we want to see in the organization and the world.The Spirit of Leadership 4 www.theleadershipcircle.com

6.
What is Transformation Really? “When you boil rice, know that the What do we mean by transformation? It is a big word. Webster’s definition: A complete water is your own life.” change in form, shape, character or nature. A metamorphosis. The Leadership Circle is Zen saying about transformation — transformation in an, internal, integral, and systemic way. The Whole System (Integral) model presented above is a two-dimensional model. It is a flat grid illustrating four quadrants that need to be integrated for whole-system change to proceed. Adding the concept of transformation to the model makes the model three- dimensional. It adds a vertical component. Transformation means that all four quadrants move through a series of levels, shifting from lower to higher orders of organization and effectiveness. This can make transformation sound like a linear, step-by-step process. It is not. George Leonard, in his book Mastery, describes the transformation process as the growth toward THE MASTE RY CURVE mastery (in any endeavor such as music, sport, martial art, leadership, or psychological and spiritual awareness). He suggests that transformation follows a learning curve that looks like the diagram (left): The learning of anything that requires ongoing practice looks like this — a sudden burstLEVEL OF MASTERY or breakthrough to a new level of performance is followed by a small contraction — the inability to fully maintain what was learned. Then there is a long period of seemingly no growth. This, Leonard refers to as “hanging out on the plateau”. A great deal of learning is actually happening, but it is not as noticeable as the breakthrough period. The plateau is a time for the learning (which seemed to come in one large bite) to be digested and incorporated into the structure of the body and mind. The learning is incorporated into every aspect of that which is being mastered. The plateau is thus a time for integration and is essential preparation for the next forward/upward leap. TIME GROWTH IN CONSCIOUSNESS Growth in consciousness follows this same pattern. There are major evolutionary shifts, where consciousness (over time) reorganizes at a higher level of order followed by a long period of learning how to inhabit the new way of being. Growth on the plateau is incremental, perhaps less noticeable. Eventually, with constant integral practice, momentum builds for the next evolutionary leap. The premise at the heart of The Leadership Circle curriculum is that development proceeds from lower to higher through a series of well-mapped stages. Psychological researchers from Piaget to Kohlberg, Gilligan, Lovinger, Maslow, Hall, Fowler, Jaques, Beck, Torbert, Cook-Greuter, Kegan, and Wilber have described a series of stages that we go through as we move from infancy to the highest stages of adult moral, ego and spiritual consciousness. It is remarkable that these (and many other) theorists, through independent research, arrived at stage descriptions that are quite similar. In addition, the world’s great Wisdom Traditions have for centuries described the very same sequence of stages. The Spirit of Leadership 5 www.theleadershipcircle.com

7.
Consciousness is in the Driver’s Seat“Mindfulness must be engaged. Once The research clearly suggests that human consciousness develops through a series ofthere is seeing, there must be acting. stages and that the sequence of those stages always is in the same order. DevelopmentOtherwise what is the use of seeing?” follows an invariant sequence. Cross cultural studies further show that these stages exist inThich Nhat Hahn all cultures and in the same sequence. These stages are, therefore, universal and invariant. The stage-like development of consciousness is built into nature. To ignore the significance of this line of research for leadership and organizational development is like trying to do space travel while ignoring the law of gravity. Organizational change places a demand on everyone in the organization to shift to a higher stage of development. If this transformation does not happen, the system may have a temporary surge in functioning, but will then go back to its prior equilibrium, back to “normal.” Transformation is the movement from one stage to the next. At each progressive developmental stage a new “design” principle is used to relate the self to the world. Reality does not change. What changes is the way we organize the self-world relationship. It is as if the self trades in its DOS operating system for a Windows operating system. The interface between the self and the world is at once more complex and simplified. Now, it can handle much more complexity with far greater ease and grace. Unsolvable dilemmas at previous stages evaporate in the new reality. That which was not possible in the prior stage becomes doable. The person experiences a new burst of creativity, efficacy, freedom, power, and joy. The organization experiences a person standing more fully in their leadership capacity. The world gets someone who is capable of greater contribution and service. The leader transforms into a higher version of him/her self. The system and culture of an organization transform into a higher version of the old system/culture. The evolution of each (the individual and the organization) is interdependent. The organizational system cannot organize at a higher stage of development than the consciousness of the leadership. And until the system (organization or society) organizes at the new level of order, it hinders the development of most of the people in the system. Only as the bulk of the population (of an organization or society) develops to the new stage of development is there a possibility for the system to take its next evolutionary leap. Human development (psychologically and spiritually) is in the driver’s seat. There is no organizational transformation without a preceding transformation in the consciousness of the leadership. The process of cultural evolution first happens in the awareness of individuals. These individuals exert influence on the system and change it. The new system encourages a critical mass of people to develop. As that critical mass develops, the full potential of the new order is realized, the likelihood of regression to an earlier level of development is reduced, and the platform is built for the next evolutionary leap. The Spirit of Leadership 6 www.theleadershipcircle.com

8.
“To study the self is to forget the self. The Stages of DevelopmentTo forget the self is to be enlightened The development from one stage to the next does not happen all at once. Transformationby all things.” may take years to unfold. Without practice, shifts from stage to stage do not happen.Dogen But, interestingly, when shifts occur, they are always associated with the emergence of significant new capability. The research also shows that people seldom regress to a previous level. This is good news. We do not go back because the new order of consciousness transcends the limits of the old order; it is better matched to the demands of the world. It simply works better. To describe each stage in much detail is beyond the scope of this paper. The interested reader can see the Appendix for a more detailed description of the phases. What follows is a cursory overview. Do not be misled by the short emphasis given here. The developmental framework given below has profoundly significant implications for leadership and organizational development at the deepest levels. Robert Kegan is perhaps the most noted authority in the stage development research. He is an author and professor at Harvard Graduate School of Education. At Harvard he is the William and Miriam Meehan Professor in Adult Learning and Professional Development, the Educational Chair of the Institute for Management and Leadership in Education , and Co-director if the Change Leadership Group. Robert Kegan is at the forefront of stage development research and theory. His stage development framework is at the heart of The Leadership Circle’s leadership 360 assessments, its Leadership Culture Survey, and all of its associated executive development learning experiences. The stage description below, and in the appendix, closely track Kegan’s framework and systematic numbering of the stages of development. THE EGOCENTRIC SELF (Kegan Stages 0–2) The development of the egocentric self involves many stages of development from birth up to and including adolescence. Since the focus of this paper is on adult leadership, all these stages are condensed into one. The limit of this structure of identity is that it does not notice other’s (often-competing) needs. It is egocentric. I relate to the other to get my needs met and don’t yet know how to make your needs important to me. This stage ends with adolescence, a time of transition where I learn how to pursue my wants and needs within a larger system of competing needs. It is a difficult time because something is being lost, my egocentric relationship to the world. The world does not revolve around me and what I want. I need to give up my egocentric agenda in order to take up membership in society. The adolescent does not yet know that this shift will actually aid him in achieving what he wants within a larger system. Research suggests that 5% of adults do not fully make this transition and operate in the world as an egocentric self. Leaders at this stage tend to be very controlling, if not dictatorial, “My way or the highway.” Employees at this stage tend to play out victim or rebel roles. Organizations that operate out of a culture organized at this level are dictatorial and oppressive. The Spirit of Leadership 7 www.theleadershipcircle.com

9.
THE REACTIVE SELF (Kegan Stage 3)LEVELS OF SELF/WORLD DEVELOPMENT Most of us successfully make it through adolescence and become well functioning, effective citizens. We spend a significant part of our adult life at this stage. We take up a role in a larger society and identify ourselves with our role. The new structure of the selfUNITIVE can be articulated, as “I am my role.” At this stage, the self is made secure and valuable by belonging to and succeeding within prescribed socially accepted roles. In this structure, we build a life, often very effectively. This is the structure referred to as the Reacting Stage in all The Leadership Circle literature. The limit of this structure is the unnoticed equating of my self with what I do, what I am good at, and/or how I am accepted byINTEGRAL others. At this stage, I usually do not notice how my goals and behavior are actually predetermined by others or by the culture. I am defined from the outside in. My visionINDEPENDENT appears to be self-authored, but that is only because I do not yet see the extent to which(Creative) I am following the dictates of cultural conditioning (as voiced by significant others: parents, bosses, spouses, norms, rules, etc). As such, I am not yet free to follow the callSOCIALIZED of my own soul. I may hear the call and either ignore it, write it off as not possible, or(Reactive) respond in a compromised or overly ambitious manner. Fear gets in the way. Leaders at this level usually no longer function as dictators; they often care deeply aboutEGOCENTRIC the employees they manage and function as the benevolent parent. The organization is hierarchical and efficient. Employee input is solicited, but decision-making and creative expression is still vested in the top. Leadership is often humane but lacks the capability of broadly sharing power. Approximately 70% of adults function at this stage and within the transition to the next stage. THE CREATIVE SELF (Kegan Stage 4) Transitioning to the Creative self is the major transition of adult life. This is the structure of the self that is referred to as the Creating stage in all The Leadership Circle Literature. Only 20% of adults in our culture fully complete this journey. To make this transition, we no longer ignore or distort the call of the soul. We face the fact that following our own path often means disappointing others, risking failure, and/or otherwise contradicting the norms that link me to society and make me (as a Reactive self ) worthwhile and valuable. This transition is particularly difficult because to make this journey, I have to let go of how I have come to define my self. I let go of the deeply held beliefs that my worth and value is tied up with what I do. I am no longer defined by cultural expectations. Now, I configure a self from the inside out for the first time. Vision springs from within. Action becomes an authentic expression of an emerging sense of inner purpose. As I begin to see and experience the power, creativity, freedom, and satisfaction of living from my own deep center, I also value and encourage that in others. I begin to treat others as equal participating members, whose rights, insights, and purposes need to be engaged and creatively aligned. Self-expression and cooperation become our new organizing principles. Leaders at this level begin to share power. It is no longer perceived as “letting go” of The Spirit of Leadership 8 www.theleadershipcircle.com

10.
control but of gaining power by sharing it. The development of self and others is prized. Organizations are structured on high-performing, self-managing teams. Leadership is shared but not yet a true partnership. Creativity and critical decision making is developed and expected at all levels of the organization. THE INTEGRAL SELF (Kegan Stage 5) Only about 5% of adults develop to this stage. However, another 5 to 10% are in transition to it. Here, the inner self-definition shifts from “I am a whole and complete self that coordinates with other whole and complete selves” to an internal realization that, in fact, “ I am not whole and complete.” Rather, I am many selves. As American Zen teacher, Norman Fisher, simply states, “We are all many persons. Some of these people we know and others we don’t — only someone else knows them. Some of them we long for, and others we want to run away from. All this is music; it’s the music of our lives if we could only stop to listen.” This is not schizophrenia, but a deeper engagement of the shadow side of the self, the parts of me I have ignored and not developed. Shadow does not mean dark or bad, but ignored or left behind. As Jung said, “Most of the shadow is solid gold.” There are many undeveloped strengths in the shadow. These undeveloped strengths often present as weaknesses and darker elements of the psyche. Consequently, as I move into this stage I realize, to paraphrase Pogo, that I have met the enemy — and he/she is within me. I no longer need to pretend completeness and can move toward the unacknowledged aspects of myself with compassion and curiosity. I am now able to hold the whole complexity of my personality, the good and the bad, the light and the dark, the hard and the soft. I can see this inner complexity without flinching or needing to engage in some strenuous self-improvement regime. I see others this way — as complex multi- dimensional beings. I also see the world this way — as a dynamic interplay of forces. Seeing the self as a rich ecology of discord and harmony opens me to the richness and complexity of the workplace and the world. Leaders at this level become systemically and community oriented. The workplace becomes a self-renewing organization where members are true participating partners. The legacy of the leader is connected to developing the organization into a vehicle for service to a larger constituency. The organization is seen as a network of stakeholders nested within a larger system of networks. Vision often becomes global and oriented toward service to human welfare. Sustainability and long-term common good become salient values. This is the level of servant leadership. THE UNITIVE SELF (Kegan Stage 6) Research strongly suggests that spiritual practices such as meditation and contemplative prayer accelerate the development through stages 2-5 thus far outlined. What is clear from experience and research is that level 6, the Unitive Self, seldom, if ever, develops without a long-term spiritual practice. The Unitive stage is not just one stage. It is a series of stages/phases that are well defined and described in the world’s Wisdom Traditions. At the Unitive stage, another major shift takes place. Up to this point, the self has seen itself as a separate self, as located within the body-mind. Now the self realizes that “I am not the body, nor the mind.” In the early phases of the Unitive stage we identify with theThe Spirit of Leadership 9 www.theleadershipcircle.com

11.
soul — a soul in communion with the Divine. The integral self is not dispensed with. That richly nuanced self is used to act in the world. It is functional, a useful tool of the spirit. Further into the Unitive Stage, the astonishing oneness underlying and just behind diversity becomes obvious. This is the stage where the person ecstatically experiences the world as one. This oneness is not just an idea; not something gleaned from a book. It is a literal experience of oneness with life itself—the oneness of all things with Itself. This is the birthplace of universal compassion; for one knows, “I and my brother, and my sister. The earth and all beings are one life.” In the later phases of the Unitive Stage, the mystical union goes beyond relatedness itself. Now there is only the One Divine Conscious Light that I Am and as which all things arise. This is Divine Union where the self is so absorbed in the Self that there is no other. ThereJesus said, “If you bring forth what iswithin you, what you bring forth will is only One.save you. If you do not bring forth what Leadership from this level of being seems to be rare, although it becomes more availableis within you, what you do not bring through long-term integral practices. It is important to note, that Unitive developmentforth will destroy you.” does not mean disengagement from the world. Quite the contrary, Leaders at this levelThe Gospel of Thomas function as global visionaries. They enact world service for the universal good. Integral Transformation and Leadership Up to this point we have been describing the stages of development primarily from the perspective of how the inner structure of an individual reorganizes and how that new inner organization results in higher levels of mastery in the world of organizational leadership. We have also suggested that organizational culture (quadrant 3) and structure (quadrant 4) go through evolutionary stages that correspond to each stage of individual consciousness. This is how we see it. In fact, the stages of the development framework can be applied to all the quadrants. And, while it is beyond the scope of this paper to map out the stage-like progression in each of the quadrants, we want to be clear that each stage of personal development has its corollaries in the other three quadrants. MORE THAN INNER CHANGE Each stage is more than an inner awakening in the individual. While it is that, each stage also brings a new world-view, a new organization, and a new society. The Declaration of Independence (of the United States of America) is a good example of multi-quadrant transformation. Individual consciousness was beginning to shift from level 3 to 4 (especially in key leaders and thinkers). As this slowly unfolded, individuals could no longer accept the oppressive monarchial structure. New visions of social order were imagined. As “The Enlightenment” gained momentum, eventually the whole political structure through which people are governed was turned upside down. The same process is now going on in South Africa. each level, a shift in the organizing principle of consciousness occurs. This At reorganizes the whole of human experience: The world (as we experience and perceive it) is made anew. Our relationship to the sacred is upgraded. Our inner landscape is never the same. Relationship dynamics between partners/friends go through significant changes. The Spirit of Leadership 10 www.theleadershipcircle.com

12.
Corporate culture, structure, and process get re-thought and re-designed. Social and political structures evolve. All this happens because a new, more truthful, and more effective identity system and world-view have replaced a smaller one. The transformation in consciousness creates potential for change in both the inner and outer world. As the research numbers sited above indicate, the bulk of our population is in the transition from Reactive self to Creative self; hence, in organizations we are in the midst of learning how to cultivate individual creativity, redistribute power, collaborate between autonomous teams, etc. At the international level, this same transition is perhaps best symbolized by the fall of the Berlin wall. THE WORLD IS CHANGING The Egocentric Stage organizations and leaders, embodying the dominator-hierarchical approach, are falling around the world. It would appear that the center of gravity for individual and social evolution is in the 3-4 stage transition. Certainly, as evidenced by the “ethnic cleansing” in places like Kosovo and Darfur, there are cultures that are behind the curve. Terrorist organizations also represent this early stage of consciousness. But the world is rapidly (or, at an agonizingly slow pace, depending on your perspective) organizing on a higher principle of order; so, the old behavior (dictatorial, hierarchical, etc.) is increasingly intolerable. At the beginning of this paper, we suggested that this is a time of opportunity and peril, and that both corporate and political leadership will be challenged in this century to orchestrate change that is planetary in scope. It is our conviction that the only structures of consciousness that are capable of this task are at the late stage Creative, and even more so, Integral, and Unitive levels. These are the only systems of thought and identity capable of suspending identification with one’s own perspective and holding the oppositeness of the other as an opportunity for learning and creative cooperation. These are the only levels of leadership that are self-less enough to be the servant of the“If we think of this existence of the whole. These are the only structures of consciousness complex enough to see in theindividual as a larger or smaller room, “enemy,” our own shadow. As a result of all this, the inner compassion for one’s own “un-it appears evident that most people developedness” is extended to others. This creates the ground upon which a true level oflearn to know only a corner of their dialogue, forgiveness, and healing can take place.room, a place by the window, a stripof floor on which they walk up and The leadership gap, so often referred to, is real. It is a gap between the Reactive self anddown.” the Creative self. Most leaders are still struggling to make that journey. Yet, our complexRainer Maria Rilke world challenges require even more development – leaders who can function at the Integral stage. Today’s leadership challenge, thus, is one of consciousness evolution. The stakes are high; but then, they are always high during times of significant evolution. Balancing Body, Mind and Spirit Our human potential includes a spectrum of bodily, emotional, rational, and spiritual capacities. As we move through stages of development, our body intelligence, emotional intelligence, rational intelligence, and Spiritual Intelligence are developed and ultimately brought into a beautiful and powerful balance. The Spirit of Leadership 11 www.theleadershipcircle.com

13.
In the Egocentric self (Stages 0–2) body intelligence is the primary focus. The infant is all body. The world is one big bodily-felt sense. There is no “other”. There is no world. There is no concept of self. There is only bodily sensation. A good deal of what is happening in early years, up through and including adolescence, is the growth into bodily intelligence. The emphasis on play, sport, appearance, and sex is evidence that much of the curriculum of early life is about skillfully inhabiting the body we are given. In adolescence, emotional intelligence begins to emerge. Any of us who have young teens know that relationships and emotions are a significant focus at this time. The adolescent’s self-concept is located in the body and with the emotions. At this stage of development “I am my ability to meet my bodily needs and emotional desires.” With the Reactive self, identity shifts to the mind. Of course there is a great deal of mental development going on in earlier stages, but the Reactive self is the first structure of identity that locates the self in the mind. Part of the emotional turbulence of adolescence is the huge shift of moving identity from body to mind. This shift allows for all the accomplishment we see in young adult and adult life (families, careers, etc.). ABANDONING BODY WISDOM The downside of this development into the Reactive self is a tendency to leave our bodily intelligence and emotional intelligence behind. We come to rely more and more on rational capacities and less and less on the gut and the heart. This trend is less pronounced in women (who develop with relationship as the primary value). Men tend to focus on achievement. But, in our culture, a bias for rationality in both sexes is the norm. As we move into rationality and develop a Reactive self, we lose touch with our bodily and emotional intelligence. In fact, from the point of view of rationality, our body and emotions don’t seem to be all that intelligent. They are non-verbal, ambiguous, and “touchy-feely”. Cutting off from the body and emotions can be a way of protecting ourselves from being overwhelmed by strong feelings (of pain or pleasure). As children, when we are centered in body and emotions, we don’t have the rational capability to make sense of the hurts and praises that come our way. If Mom or Dad is angry, it “feels” like “ I am bad.” If they praise me, it “feels” like “I am good.” Not rational perhaps, but congruent with the logic of bodily and emotional intelligence. In the early stages, we don’t yet have the self-system and the cognitive development to conclude otherwise. We don’t tell ourselves, “Dad/Mom’s anger is their business. It does not mean I am bad. It means they had a rough day.” Because we lack this capability to interpret reality, we are easily hurt. Some of us grew up in harsh environments where these hurts were huge. So what do we do with these hurts? We push them out of consciousness. We repress them. If we have emotions we don’t want to feel, we cut off our bodily and emotional connections. We are safe but also disconnected from body and emotional intelligence. We operate in the world using only a limited portion of our full potential. FACING FEARS To develop into higher stages (especially the Integral stage) requires that we reclaimThe Spirit of Leadership 12 www.theleadershipcircle.com

14.
our bodily and emotional intelligence. We face our fears of abandonment and failure. We learn how our current fears are rooted in the past. We see the ways we defend and“If you want to become whole, let protect ourselves from our deeper wounds by successfully living up to the dictates of theyourself be partial. culture around us. As we reintegrate these split-off bodily sensations and emotions, weIf you want to become straight, let discover resources of primal strength and passion. It is as though parts of us woundedyourself be crooked. in childhood stopped growing. Now, as we bring compassionate awareness to theseIf you want to become full, let yourself parts, we heal the wounds, grow-up these parts, and reintegrate the body and emotionalbe empty. intelligence into a mature self-system. Body, mind, and spirit come into balance.If you want to be reborn, letyourself die.” What Is Spiritual Intelligence?Tao Te Ching So what, then, is Spiritual Intelligence? It is literacy in navigating the pathways of transformation. It is the art and practice of inner and outer evolution. It is learning how to progressively live fully in body, mind, and spirit. It is navigating the journey from the Egocentric orientation of youth through the Reactive and Creative self-stages, to the Integral self, and finally surrendering into Divine union and sacred service. Spiritual Intelligence is learning the “how-to’s” of forwarding our own movement from stage to stage; of recreating our worldview at each stage; of stepping into a deeper and more global relationship with the world. Spiritual Intelligence increases at each new stage and reaches its omega point in Unitive awareness and global service. We think leadership development is intimately bound up with Spiritual Intelligence. Many of the greatest figures in every discipline (spiritual, scientific, artistic, political, etc.)“The reality is that healing happens were functioning at a unitive level of awareness. At a minimum, they were functioning atbetween people. The wound in me a level or two higher than the average for the time.evokes the healer in you, and the We call this Spiritual Intelligence — a way of seeing and acting that focuses on doing thewound in you evokes the healer in me, tough work of transforming body, mind, heart and soul — personally, interpersonally,and then the two healers collaborate.” organizationally, globally.Rachel Naomi Remen When we adopt this evolutionary, transformative perspective, we accept that the organization’s and the world’s transformation is inextricably bound to our own. Spiritual Intelligence is literacy in the practice of transformation. Dialogue: Collective Spiritual Intelligence While individual transformation is essential for organizational and global transformation, it is not enough. We have to find ways to work in higher order relationships with each other so that we can discover and create together higher order systems. With individual growth in consciousness, higher order relationships become possible. Dialogue is a key tool for coming into higher order relationships and discovering higher order systems. It is a tool for accessing the higher/deeper wisdom that is in the collective body, mind and soul. Much is being re-learned about dialogue as a tool for the transformation. When people come together to practice dialogue (by suspending judgment, listening deeply, balancing advocacy with inquiry, etc.) something very special can happen. The conversation gets The Spirit of Leadership 13 www.theleadershipcircle.com

15.
progressively more authentic. People share the truth of their experience and listen to the experience of others. People become more vulnerable, discussing risks, fears, and “undiscussables.” The deeper the conversation gets, the more the assumptions and beliefs that shape our collective reality have a chance of being exposed and re-examined. As these assumptions and beliefs are rewritten, group and system behavior can change. This is Dialogue, Dia-Logos — or meaning moving through. Dialogue is a tool for large system learning and collective change. INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE ARE LINKED Because individual and collective are interdependent (in fact, one), dialogue is also a tool for personal transformation. As dialogue deepens, an amazing thing happens: the group consciousness expands, it accesses a flow state. People can feel this happening. It is quite palpable. This is what is meant by sacred space. Groups can create sacred space: a rich field of trust, connection, and learning. In the field of sacred space, collective wisdom is more easily accessed. The expansion of awareness within the group affects everyone present. It encourages everyone to step beyond the boundaries of their current identity and worldview. Boundaries and limits are temporarily suspended. Each person plays at a level higher than usual. It is an experience of living from a higher level of awareness. People access higher (spiritual intuition) and deeper (body wisdom) parts of themselves,“Listen. Make a way for yourself inside perhaps for the first time. The experience of having accessed it once makes it moreyourself. Stop looking in the other available on an ongoing basis. In this way, phase shifting is stimulated and supported inway of looking. You already have the the sacred container of dialogue.precious mixture that will make youwell. Use it.” DIALOGUE CATALYZES CHANGERumi Through dialogue, learning at personal, cultural and systemic levels happens simultaneously and can break through more readily. Dialogue catalyzes transformation at the individual, group, and system levels. It is a tool for collective spiritual growth and intelligence. Emerson said, “We lie in the lap of immense intelligence. We are the receivers of its truth and the organs of its activity.” When people come together in dialogue, create sacred space, and balance intuition and reason, “the truth will out.” Dialogue is a core discipline of The Leadership Circle. Becoming Soul and System-Literate The purpose of The Leadership Circle is transformation. It is designed to help leaders determine where they (and their organizations) are in the great sequence of development and to help them make the evolutionary leap that can catalyze systemic transformation. The Leadership Circle intends to provoke and promote phase-shifting in the psychological and spiritual life of the leader and to provide new scientific, systemic, and cultural viewpoints required for translating new personal awareness into organizational and world change. The process of cultural evolution begins with the awareness of individuals, and always in relationship to the culture’s current struggles. The crisis in the culture stimulates reflection and evolution within the consciousness of emerging leaders. These individuals then exert influence on the system and change it — in terms of structure, processes, The Spirit of Leadership 14 www.theleadershipcircle.com

16.
policies, and purposes. The new system establishes conditions that encourage other members of that system to develop. As a critical mass of people develops, the potential of the new order is realized. The likelihood of regression to an earlier level of development is reduced. When we work integrally — in all four quadrants — we set the stage for all four quadrants to move together to a higher level of expression. The platform is built for the next evolutionary leap. In this way, change leads to transformation. The four-quadrant model phase shifts to a higher, more integrated level of expression. Our bias is clear — there is no organizational transformation without a preceding transformation in the consciousness of the leadership. Taking the thorniest corporate and world dilemmas deeply to heart expedite individual transformation. We need to become literate in a set of integral, whole-system practices (action in all four quadrants) that facilitate and expedite ongoing transformation. AVOIDING THE HARD WORK While inner transformation is easy to talk about, and most of us say we want it, it is all too readily avoided. There is a part of us that would rather side step the challenge of working on ourselves. There is a part of us that would trade-in deep transformation for simple relief from the tension of living and working within our current situation. But there is another part of us: an authentic part––a part that accepts no substitutes––a part that sees through easy answers and quick fixes. This part knows that if short cuts were possible, we would have all bought the package long ago and would now be enjoying the fruits of our success. This part of us knows there is no short cut to greatness of the soul. This part is willing to put in the time and effort required to do the deep inner work. This part knows that transformation is an acquired taste, which is developed with years of practice and sincere work. SPIRITUAL LITERACY Most leaders lack literacy when it comes to effecting inner personal and cultural transformation. Lack of literacy does not mean lack of intelligence or competence — it means we don’t know what we don’t know. Many of us are parents. We have enjoyed, nurtured, and celebrated our children becoming literate in our language. First, they recognized letters/characters and then learned the sounds of each. Letters became words, and words/characters became sentences, which in turn became paragraphs and books. Young children don’t know they are illiterate, but theyThe Spirit of Leadership 15 www.theleadershipcircle.com

17.
are. They also don’t always know why it is important that they become literate. From our view as parents, we know what literacy means and what it brings. We make it clear they“A path is only a path; if you feel you don’t have an option and that claiming their place in adult society requires literacy. Theshould not follow it, you must not stay development of literacy takes years if not decades. So we fervently support the processwith it under any circumstances. But because we know it is essential.your decision to keep on the pathor to leave it must be free of fear or The same is true for literacy regarding inner change: psychological, spiritual, and culturalambition. My benefactor’s question — the domain of soul-work. We are not born literate in soul-work. It is not something wehas meaning now. Does this path have naturally know how to develop. Furthermore, little to no attention is paid to developingheart? If it does, the path is good; if it this literacy in our educational systems. The development of inner literacy requiresdoesn’t it is of no use.” intentional efforts and sustained attention supported by skillful guidance. DevelopingThe Teachings of Don Juan system literacy requires new worldviews. With this dual literacy (soul and system), we will be capable of pursuing the transformation in consciousness (individually and collectively) that makes organizational shifts in performance sustainable. Where Do We Start? All spiritual traditions (and increasingly now, scientific traditions) acknowledge spiritual and physical aspects of reality co-existing together in the same space. As Teilhard de Chardin has said, “We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” Spiritual Intelligence acknowledges that we don’t have to “go” anywhere to find the spirit. We know that every level of reality is available “here” — in our present conditions and in the present moment. Yet, we also know that we, personally, in our relationships, our organizations, and our world, are working with only a pitifully small portion of our full capacities — our Divine inheritance. WE ARE ALL ON A JOURNEY We are each on a spiritual journey. This is why we are on this planet. Scott Peck once said that, “the earth is spiritual boot camp.” If we did not need to grow and develop spiritually, we would probably not be here. Somewhere along the way this notion gets lost. The pursuit of safety and economic success, while necessary to support the journey, often become ends unto themselves. The reality that we are spiritual beings on an evolutionary journey has been effectively and completely excluded from the world of work, to the detriment of the individual, the workplace, and the world. We live in a time of great transition. On every front, we are bumping into the limits of our current worldview. This is not bad. Limits, seemingly unsolvable dilemmas, and crisis force us to acknowledge that we are at the edge of our worldview. We are challenged to seek out a new, higher perspective from which to bring order out of the chaos. As Albert Einstein said, “the splitting of the atom changed everything except the way we think,” and “we cannot solve our current problems using the same level of awareness that created them.” We need to engage a new form of intelligence if we are to understand the relationship between transforming ourselves and transforming our world. Spiritual Intelligence is fast becoming a leadership imperative. The Spirit of Leadership 16 www.theleadershipcircle.com

18.
HIGHER PURPOSE IN ACTIONThe Leadership Circle is dedicated We each have a contribution that is solely ours to make. Our task in life is to move towardto evolving the conscious practice of an ever more complete expression of that purpose. Leadership is fundamentally aboutleadership globally. realizing our higher purpose and taking actions that make that purpose real in the conditions of our life. Within us is a template or a blueprint for our true nature, a nature we have been crafting since before we were born. We have a soul, one that remembers who we are, what we are here to learn, what wounds we need to heal, how we want to fully deploy our uniqueness. The soul knows the contribution we most want to make through our lives. We do not invent this knowing. Through Spiritual Intelligence, we detect it and we let it find us. When we allow it to have its way in our lives, we become fully alive. We become ourselves. We become capable of the kind of leadership that is transforming. Epilogue This paper was written in 1998. It remains not only current, but is still at the forefront field of Leadership Development. The Leadership Development field remains preoccupied with behavioral approaches (competency models) to development of leaders. Developmental, truly transformational approaches to leadership and organizational development are just beginning to find their way into the field. This is the future. Since this paper was written there have been a number of books written that have served to validate the central concepts of this paper. Those books are Action Inquiry, (Torbert), Leadership Agility (Josephs and Joiner), and Immunity to Change (Kegan and Laskow Lahey). These books have helped to introduce and advance the theory and practice of the framework outlined in this paper. The Leadership Circle (TLC) is at the forefront of the field in introducing transformational approaches to the development of leaders. TLC has developed a new generation of leadership development assessment tools. These assessments are built out of the framework described in this paper. These assessments as well as the coaching, consulting, and experiential learning processes through which they are deployed, significantly advance the state-of-the-art of developing leaders for the demands of the new millennium. Taken together, TLC has developed the most comprehensive system for leader development available. TLC has also conducted proprietary research showing a very strong correlation between The Leadership Circle Profile (TLC’s next generation 360 assessment), Leadership Effectiveness and Business Performance. Furthermore, and more significant to this paper, The Leadership Circle Profile has been show to correlate strongly with very sound measures of Stage of Development. This research is highly significant as it strongly suggests that developing leaders for the future has as much to do with consciousness as competence. At TLC we hold the position, based on this research, that the main thing that is developing when leadership becomes extraordinary, is the internal operating system of the leader. It is not merely the development of skill, but the consciousness required to skillfully deploy one’s leadership in ways that are well matched to the complexity of the organizational challenges. In short, great leadership requires higher order consciousness. Unless our leadership development effort begin to take a The Spirit of Leadership 17 www.theleadershipcircle.com

19.
developmental approach to the development of leaders, leader development will be outpaced by the rate of change and mismatched to complexity and interdependent challenges we face in the very near future. The Leadership Circle is dedicated to evolving the conscious practice of leadership globally. Appendix A TRANSFORMATIONAL MODEL OF DEVELOPMENT This section will outline three phases of development that describe most of adult development after adolescence. There are stages that precede adolescence and higher mystical stages than the ones described below. We will stick to the phases that have immediate relevance to where leaders and organizations are today. Robert Kegan, in his book In Over Our Heads, has described a five-phase model of development. Others describe very similar stages, but in our opinion, he is at the forefront of the research. (We will be discussing his levels 3 through 5 phases in much more detail than in the above paper. Level 2 Adolescence will be discussed briefly as a way of getting started.) Brian Hall, in his book Value Shift describes how leadership style, organizational culture, and structure evolve with each stage. Hall’s work will greatly influence the sections below that show how leadership style and organizational structure/culture evolve within stages. What follows is a very brief overview of the major stages of development that adults have access to and the types of leadership and organizations that emerge at each stage. Kegan is an object-relations theorist. Consequently, he explains evolution in terms of major subject/object shifts in one’s understanding of the self-world relationship. The easiest way to understand what happens in the structure of the self in the evolution from any one phase to another is to notice what goes on in an infant in the earliest phase development. When a child is born, there is no capacity to distinguish itself from the mother. From the infant’s point of view, it is all subject — mother and self share the same self. The earliest phase of development happens when the child begins to recognize the mother as separate from it. The mother moves from subject to object. The self-world relationship takes a major step forward. The child individuates itself from the surround — which it used to mistake as itself. With this new construction of identity, the self-world relationship comes more individual separation (individuation) and also a higher capacity for relationship. The child can now relate to the mother as “other” rather than as “self.” This example illustrates a pattern that holds true at every level of development we will be exploring. There is a major subject-object shift. The person recognizes (perhaps over years) that what it used to think of as the self has too much of the world (surround) fused with it. That which is recognized as fused is then objectified in the same way the infant begins to take the mother as other (object). The self is more clearly individuated, and with that evolutionary step, comes whole new capacities for being in relationship to others and the world that were simply not available in the previous state of fusion — mistake of object (other) for subject (self ).The Spirit of Leadership 18 www.theleadershipcircle.com

20.
This disintegration of the old self is very disconcerting. It is often an arduous passage. But as the new self-world relationship is constructed, the self experiences a new freedom and creative power that makes the old self seem small by comparison. Consequently, development, when it progresses, seldom regresses and it seems to progress in a linear direction toward greater individuation with correspondingly higher capacities for relationship. LEVEL 2 — EGOCENTRIC (Kegan — The Imperial Self; Hall Phase 1 — Surviving; Torbert, Impulsive) (The description of this phase is purposefully lean. It is simply a way of jumping into the stream of development that begins with birth and ends in death. It is used to mark the identity structure that most of us leave as we enter our early adult years.) The onset of adolescence developmentally is marked by the subject-object shift from “I am my impulses” to which I, subject, must respond, and over which I have little control; to “I am my needs.” This differentiation of the self from an over-identification with moment- to-moment impulses creates a newfound freedom and autonomy. I can now meet my own needs. Meeting my needs now becomes the focus. This phase is initially quite overly independent. Independence is its strength and the very thing parents both welcome on the front end of adolescence and then work to tame for the better part of a decade. Adolescence is the movement from the too independent 10-year-old to the traditional good citizen of the 22-year-old. The worldview of the Level 2 adolescent identity is that of a mystery to which I am at the effect and have no control. The ego is the center of an alien and dangerous environment and the focus on meeting personal/ physical needs is primary. It is subject. Looking out for #1 is the first and last focus. Decisions are made on the basis of physical and personal needs satisfaction only. This self-preoccupied stage is marked by the absence of a shared reality. My needs and others’ needs are not integrated. I do not make decisions based on the impact on others with whom I am in relationship. I make them primarily based on what will happen to me if I please or displease others. For example, if I tell a lie, the concern is not on the loss of trust or the feelings another will go through as a result of that lie, but on the consequences to me if they catch me in the lie, and whether or not I can accept the risk of those consequences. There is no shared reality to which I am responsible. There are only effects that come back at me as I pursue my needs. The absence of a shared reality is the structural limit of this phase. Since I am my newfound ability to meet my needs, it feels like death to the self to subordinate its own self-interest to that of another or the group. Yet this is precisely the evolution that is taking place in adolescence. Growth at this phase is taking others’ needs and expectations into account. It requires giving up an absolute relationship to my point of view and subordinating that view to some larger way of knowing than just myself. It requires defining myself co-relationally. My principle loyalty is no longer to the self, but to the relationship (friend, parents, family, organization, church, and community). This is the process of socialization: turning the adolescent into the citizen. My needs are now moved from subject to object.The Spirit of Leadership 19 www.theleadershipcircle.com